Brad Jones Racing’s Andrew Jones is driving. I’m sitting in a passenger seat bolted into his Alliance-backed BJR V8 Supercar.

Andy is taking me for a hot lap of the Sandown race track where, the day before, he partnered Jason Bright in the Sandown 500; the traditional lead-up race to the iconic Bathurst 1000 this weekend.

Getting strapped in an experience in itself, as the belts are so tight you struggle to breath at first. Once we leave pit lane it becomes pretty obvious as to why they are so tight – the acceleration is unbelievable, and it just doesn’t stop, to point where I think Andy has forgotten there is a 90-degree corner less than 100 metres away and we must be close to 200km/hr.

It feels like Mike Tyson punched me in the stomach as Andy hits the brakes; my head is thrust forward and I find myself looking at the floor for a second as I try and gather the strength in my neck to get my head upright.

As I do, he flicks the car hard right, we hit the curb with huge force and are thrown to other side of the track at which point Andy hits the accelerator … this is madness.

We head up the long back straight with my head firmly planted to the back of the seat as we just keep accelerating. I know there is a kink at the top of the hill, I know that Andy knows there’s a kink at the top of the hill, surely he’s going to brake soon.

A quick touch on the brake, back one gear but we are still doing well over 200km/h as he touches the curb on the inside of the kink and the car drifts to the other side of track. I can’t repeat what I said at this point.

Then he starts to really brake, I just catch my head in time to stop it ending up in Bourke Street.

The lap goes on, my helmet bangs against the roll bars as we hit more kerbs, accelerate, brake – there is not one moment when I’m not pushed, pulled or thrown sideways; I can’t believe the violence of it all.

As we turn onto the main straight for another lap Andy gives me a thumbs-up – I don’t know if it means he’s glad we didn’t crash or is just proud of himself for turning me white as a sheet.

When I get out I have a smile like a kid at Christmas. That was one of the best things I’ve ever done. The speed, the noise, the huge forces on your body and the chance to see the incredible skill of a V8 Supercar driver in action, make it an experience like no other.

That these guys (and gals), can do this for hours on end and each lap is within a few tenths of second of each other is mind-boggling. 

I have known Andrew Jones for many years, and I always thought he was one of nature’s gentlemen, but looking at the grin on his face as I try and gather myself as we pull into pit lane, I now know there is another side to Andy – and I like it.